Interfacial Charging Phenomena of Aluminum (Hydr)oxides

Abstract

The interfacial charging of Al(OH) 3 (gibbsite and bayerite) and Al 2 O 3 has been studied. For Al(OH) 3 it can be shown that the very strong variation in charging behavior for different preparations is related to the relative presence of differently reacting crystal planes. The edge faces of the hexagonal gibbsite crystals are proton reactive over the whole pH range, in contrast to the 001 plane, which is mainly uncharged below pH = 10. On this 001 face only doubly coordinated surface groups are found, in contrast to the edges which also have singly coordinated surface groups. The results are fully in agreement with the predictions of the Multi site complexation (MUSIC) model. The proton adsorption, electrolyte ion adsorption, and shift of the IEP of gibbsite and aluminum oxide have been modeled simultaneously. For gibbsite, the ion pair formation of Na is larger than that of Cl, as is evidenced by modeling the experimentally observed upward shift of the IEP and charge reversal at high electrolyte concentrations. All these experimental results can be satisfactorily modeled with the MUSIC model, including the experimental surface potential of aluminum oxide (ISFET).